Concrete bucket



May 28, 1940. F. T. CROWE CONCRETE BUCKET 2 Shee tS-Shet 1 Filed April 22, 1959 N hw A TTORNE Y.

y 28, 19404 F. r. c owE' v 2,202,284

CONCRETE BUCKET Filed April 22, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

flwvas 7.- 620142 .BY; f

A TTORNE Y.

Q; INVENTOR.

Patented May 28, 1940 NETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

6 Claims.

My invention relates to bucket constructions and has particular reference to a concrete bucket finding particular utility when employed as a temporary receptacle for freshly mixed concrete 5 during transportation from a concrete mixer to the location at which such concrete is placed.

Large volumes of concrete are employed in 'certain construction projects, notably the building of bridges, canals, dams, and the like, and concrete which is employed for this type of construction is, for purposes of compactness and ultimate strength, mixed to as stiff a consistency as is possible commensurate with economy in handling. The usual procedure is to establish a mixing plant at a convenient location immediately adjacent the construction site and to transport freshly mixed concrete by means of concrete buckets to the location at which the concrete is to be placed. In the larger projects these buckets have a capacity of from two to eight cubic yards and are transported by railway flat car or overhead cableway, or both. The bucket is ordinarily lowered to the desired location by means of a cableway and then the bucket closure member is moved to an open position to discharge the concrete out of the bottom of the bucket into the forms in which it is to be placed.

Because of the relatively dry mix which is employed in concrete of this type, it has been found necessary to construct the bottom discharge opening in the bucket of relatively large size and the funnel or sloping sides communicating with this opening must be very steep in order to insure complete discharge of the concrete from the bucket. These proportionately large openings on buckets of largecapacity result in an enormous strain on the gate or closure member so as to make them very very difilcult to open. If the gate is so constructed that the weight of concrete on the closure member-tends to move the closure member to its open position, the strains imposed on the latching mechanism for maintaining the gate in a closed position are consequently very large and such latch mechanisms, as a result, are very difficult to operate.

It is therefore an object of my invention to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages in concrete bucket constructions by providing a bucket of large capacity and large discharge opening with a readily operable closure member for the opening.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a concrete bucket havinga large discharge opening and a closure member for said opening which includes means permitting automatic opening and closing of the closure member.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a concrete bucket of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph in which the closure "5 member is so constructed that the Weight of concrete resting thereupon tends to move the member to the open position and in which the weight of the closure member tends to cause restoration to the closed position when the bucket is emptied. 10

It is also an object of my invention to provide a concrete bucket construction of the character set forth in the preceding paragraphs in which a pivoted closure member is provided with a gate operating device of such type that the weight of concrete upon the closure member tends to hold the closure member in the closed position until the gate operator is moved toward the open posi-' tion, at which time the weight of concrete tends to move the closure member toward the open position.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a concrete bucket of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph with a manually operable means for moving the gate operator from the closed position to a position permitting the weight of concrete carried by the closure member to move the closure member to the open position.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a study of the following specification, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment of my invention showing a closure member for the concrete bucket in the closed position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the relative location of parts when the bucket is opened; 40

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the bucket illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1 illustrating additional details of construction; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially along the line V-V of Fig. 4 and illustrating the details of construction of the closure member and the gate operator with which it functions.

Referring to the drawings, 1 have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as comprising a tubular bucket body I of substantially rectangular shape. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the bucket body I may include a pair of vertical- 1y extending side plates 2 and 3 held in spaced relation to each other by means of a pair of end plates 4 and 5 which are spaced from each other so as to define a tubular body having a substantially rectangular shaped interior.

The bucket body i may be reinforced sufficiently to withstand the outwardly acting forces imposed upon the side walls 2 and 3 and the end walls 4 and 5, resulting from the semi-fluid concrete which is placed within the bucket, by means of reinforcing members 8 which extend circumferentially about the exterior of the bucket body l.

The upper end of the bucket body I is preferably left open for convenience in loading and is provided with a suitable lifting hook or eye 1 secured to a transversely extending member 8 secured to the bucket side walls 2 and 3. The connection between the transversely extending member 8 and the bucket side walls may be additionally reinforced by means of an internal angle frame 9 suitably secured to the upper edges of the side walls 2 and 3 and end plates 4 and 5.

The lower end of the bucket body I is provided with a closure member iii which, as best illustrated in Fig. 5, includes a rectangular plate member I! secured to a pivot shaft I2 extending transversely between the sides 25 and 3 and journaled for rotation therein by means of suitable bearing members l3 and M. Because of the enormous weight of concrete which must be carried by the closure member it, I prefer to employ longitudinally extending reinforcing members 55 which may comprise a plurality of angle irons welded or otherwise suitably secured to the upper surface of the plate member I l.

The pivotal mounting for the closure member if! provided by the pivot shaft l2 permits rotational movement of the closure member H3 between a closed position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and an open position as illustrated in Fig. 2. Movement of the closure member to between these open and closed positions may be controlled by employing a gate operator 5. The gate operator it comprises a pair of downwardly extending arms l! and i8 which are pivotally secured at their upper ends to the upper portions of the side wall members 2 and 3 by means of stub shafts It secured to the side wall members 2 and 3 and bushing members 28 carried in the ends of the arms I! and i8.

The lower ends of the arms H and [8 are interconnected by a transversely extending axle member 2i upon which is rotatably supported a roller or sleeve member 22. The sleeve member 2?. operates as a support upon which the closure member it rests so that as the arms 57 and I8 are moved from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to the position illustrated in Fig. 1 the engagement between the roller member 22 and the closure member H] pivotally moves the closure member about its pivot shaft 12 from an open to a closed position.

The roller 22 is disposed a greater radial distance away from the pivots l9 than is the pivot shaft l2 so that a component of the force due to the weight of concrete resting on the closure member ID is available for moving the arms I! and I8 toward the open position illustrated in Fig. 2.

In order that this mechanism may be self actuating to automatically move the closure member ill to the closed position whenever the concrete is discharged from the bucket body 5, I provide a weighted structure 23 which disposes the center of gravity of the gate operator H5 in such position that the Weight thereof will cause the arms I? and E8 to move to the position illustrated in Fig. 1 and swing the closure member it to its closed position. The weighted structure 23 may be constructed along the lines illustrated in Fig. 4 and include a substantially C- shaped framework 24 which provides a fiat bottom portion 25 which, when in the closed position as illustrated in Fig. 1, operates as a base member upon which the bucket may rest while being transported from a concrete mixer to the location at which the concrete is being placed by means of truck or flat car.

I provide a safety latch for preventing the inadvertent opening of the gate while it is loaded with concrete. member 2G pivotally secured to the arm H by means of a suitable pivot 2! which permits pivotal movement of the latch member between an upper position as defined by a stop member 28 and a lower position as defined by a stop member 29. The latch member 26 is provided with a recess or hook portion 39 adapted to receive a cooperating bar member 39 secured to the end frame 4 and prevent movement of the arms I! and 88 toward the open position. The upper stop member 28 is preferably disposed in such position that when the latch member 26 is moved to an unlatched position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the center of gravity of the latch member 26 will be so disposed as to cause the latch member to remain in its unlatched position until the arms l7 and is are moved toward the open position of the bucket, at which time the shifting of the center of gravity of the latch member 26 relative to its pivotal support 21 will cause it to fall into its lower position engaging the stop 29.

I provide a tapered nose portion 32 on the latch member 26 which engages the upper surface of the bar member 3! as the arms I! and H! are moved to the closed position and operates to lift the latch member 26 over the bar member 3! and cause engagement between the notch po a:

tion 30 thereof and the bar member.

It will be observed that this construction permits the releasing of the gate operator it by merely moving the latch member 26 from the full line position, illustrated in Fig. 1, to the dotted line position, and that movement of the gate operator I6 from beneath the closure member ill will automatically restore the latch member 28 to a position to relatch the gate operator whenever it is again moved into the closed position.

It is essential that this safety latch be easily operated and it has been found that if the safety latch supplies all of the securing force necessary to prevent the gate operator it from moving toward the open position under influence of the weight of concrete resting on the closure member Ill, the resistance to movement of the latch member 26 is very large. I accordingly construct the closure member Ill in such fashion that the force tending to move the gate oper ator it toward the open position is reduced to a minimum when the members are in their closed position.

This operation is achieved in the preferred embodiment of my invention by providing a leaf portion 33 of the closure member H) which is disposed at such an angle to the plane of the plate portion H as to dispose the leaf member 33 at right angles to a line joining the roller 22. with the pivots Ill-20 when the members This latch may comprise a latch are in such closed position. It will be apparent that with this construction the downward force exerted on the closure member 10 by the weight of concrete carried thereby will produce no horizontal component tending to swing the gate member [5 toward the open position, and that by this means transverse forces on the safety latch member 25 are reduced to substantially zero.

With this construction it is necessary that a means be provided for starting the movement of the gate operator l6 toward the open position after the latch 26 is released whenever it is desired to open the closure member to cause discharge of the concrete carried by the bucket body, this opening force to be applied until the roller 22 has traversed the extent of the leaf portion 33 and come into ing plate portion ll of the closure member I.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 this means may include a sector shaped gear rack 34 suitably secured to one of the sidewalls 2 or 3 and disposed in such position that the gear rack 34 comprises a sector of a circle described about the pivot points l920 for the gate operator l6. A pinion 35 is rotatably supported by means of a stub shaft 36 carried ina bearing block 31 secured to the arm I! in a position causing the pinion 35 to mesh with the gear rack 34. The outward end of the stub shaft 36 is provided with a slot 38 or other suitable means, whereby a crank, wrench,

or similar tool may be applied for rotating the pinion 35.

In operation the pinion 35 is rotated sufficiently to move the gate operator it toward the open position until the roller member 22 carried thereby moves beyond the leaf portion 33 and onto the inclined plate portion ll of the closure member Ill, at which time the downward force exerted upon the closure member ID by the weight of concrete carried within the bucket body I provides a horizontal component of force which will cause movement of the gate operator Hi to the full open position. It will be observed that as soon as all of the concrete has been discharged from the bucket body I, the force tending to hold the closure member ID in the open position is removed and the weight of the gate operator I6 is then effective in swinging the closure member NJ to the closed position and moving the gate operator It to a corresponding position to cause reengagement of the safety latch members 26 and 3|.

From the foregoing it will beapparent that I have provided a concrete bucket in which the discharge opening provided for the concrete is substantially as large as the cross-section of the bucket body itself so that extremely stiff concrete mixes may be readily discharged from the bucket, and dilficulties, due to adherence of such stifi' concrete within the bucket, are wholly obviated.

The bucket of my invention may be readily opened to discharge the concrete by the application of a very small operating force, the force required being only sufiicient to overcome the friction of the rolling parts since the direction in which the forces act are such that all forces are balanced when the gate is in the closed position. Furthermore, the gate operator employed in the preferred embodiment of my invention provides a means whereby the gate may be supported in an upright position resting upon a fiat surface such as the deck of a truck or fiat car.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not engagement with the slop- 3 desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown or described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of: a bucket .body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a rigid closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket comprising a flat plate-like member; means pivotally securing said closure member to said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having roller means engaging the under side of said closure member;

and a pivotal mounting means for securing said operator to said bucket body, said pivotal mounting means being so disposed as to define an arcuate path of movement for said roller means extending below and closely adjacent to said pivotal mounting means for said closure member.

2. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of: a bucket body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a rigid plate-like closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket; means pivotally mounting said closure member on said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having rollermeans engaging the under side of said closure member; a securing means pivotally mounting said operator on said bucket body, said securing meansbeing disposed in such position above said mounting means for said closure member as to define an arcuate path of movement for said roller means extending from a point below said mounting means to a point disposing said closure member in said closed position, whereby the weight of concrete resting on said closure member tends to move said closure member and said gate operator to said open position; and extension means on said closure member engageable by said roller means in said closed position, said extension means defining a plane surface disposed at right angles to a line joining said roller means with the securing means for said gate operator when said operator and closure member are in their closed positions, whereby the weight of said and automaticmovement of said operator toward said open position is prevented.

3. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of: a bucket body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a rigid plate-like closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket; means pivotally mounting said closure member on said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having roller means engaging the under side of said closure member; a securing means pivotally mounting said operator on said bucket body, said securing means being disposed in such position above said mounting means for said closure member as to define an arcuate path of movement for said roller means extending from a point below said mounting means to a point disposing said closuremem'ber in said closed position, whereby the weight of concrete resting on said closure member tends to move said closure member and said gate operator to said open position; and means on said closure member engageable by said roller means concrete is balanced in said closed pov sition for balancing the weight of said concrete to prevent movement of said operator toward said open position.

4. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of: a bucket body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a rigid plate-like closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket; means pivotally mounting said closure member on said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having roller means engaging the under side of said closure member; a securing means pivotally mounting said operator on said bucket body, said securing means being disposed in such position above said mounting means for said closure member as to define an arcuate path of movement for said roller means extending from a point below said mounting means to a point disposing said closure member in said closed position, whereby the weight of concrete resting on said closure member tends to move said closure member and said gate operator to said open position; means on said closure member engageable by said roller means in said closed position for balancing the weight of said concrete to prevent movement of said operator toward said open position; and means for moving said gate operator away from a position corresponding to said closed position of said closure member,

5. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of z a bucket body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket; means pivotally mounting said closure member on said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having roller means engaging the under side of said closure member; a securing means for pivotally mounting said operator on said bucket body, said securing means being disposed above and on the opposite side of the center of gravity of said bucket body from said pivotal mounting means for said closure member, whereby the weight of concrete resting on said closure member tends to move said closure member and said gate operator to said open position; extension means on said closure member engageable by said roller means in said closed position, said extension means defining a plane surface disposed at right angles to a line joining said roller means with the securing means for said gate operator when said operator and closure member are in their closed positions for balancing the weight of said concrete and prevent automatic movement of said operator toward said open position; and base means on said gate operator defining a plane surface extending substantially horizontally, whereby placing said bucket in a position engaging said base means with a supporting surface causes the weight of said bucket body to effect pivotal movement there-of relative to said operator to open said closure member,

6. In a concrete bucket construction, the combination of: a bucket body comprising a tubular member having upwardly extending sides; a closure member for the lower open end of said bucket body for retaining therein concrete placed within said bucket; means pivotally mounting said closure member on said bucket body at one side thereof for movement between an open and a closed position; a gate operator having roller' means engaging the under side of said closure member; a securing means for pivotally mounting said operator on said bucket body, said secur- 1 ing means being disposed above and on the opposite side of the center of gravity of said bucketbody from said pivotal mounting means for said closure member, whereby the weight of concrete resting on said closure member tends to move said closure member and said gate operator to said open position; extension means on said closure member engageable by said roller means in said closed position, said extension means defining a plane surface disposed at right angles to a line joining said roller means with the securing means for said gate operator when saidoperator and closure member are in their closed positions for balancing the weight of said concrete and prevent automatic movement of said operator toward said open position; base means on said gate operator defining a plane surface extending substantially horizontally, whereby placing said bucket in a position engaging said base means with a supporting surface causes the weight of said bucket body to effect pivotal movement thereof relative to said operator to open said closure member; and locking means for locking said gate operator in a position corresponding to said closed position of said closure member.

FRANCIS T. CROWE. 

